Drivers stuck overnight on I-24 in western Kentucky

Just like Wednesday drivers stood stranded on I-24 for about 12 hours Thursday night. Two semis jackknifed near Cadiz and again hundreds of drivers were stuck for the night- including one of our own. Local Six’s Juliana Valencia was trying to drive back home from Nashville on her day off- but it took a lot longer than expected.

She left Nashville around 2 p.m. yesterday. I-24 west was mostly clear, but traffic was going pretty slow.

Just before 6 p.m. traffic started really slowing down at Exit 65 near Cadiz. Once there, Juliana put her car in park until about 5:30 Friday morning.

Juliana said roads between Exit 65 and Exit 56 near Princeton were still really bad around 8 a.m. There was a layer of ice making it difficult to drive on. Once past the Calvert City Exit the roads got better, and she finally arrived in Paducah.

Getting stuck for about 12 hours could have been dangerous for Juliana, but luckily she was prepared. She had things like food, water, blankets, and a cell phone charger.

6:30 a.m. Update: A Kentucky State Police dispatcher for Post 1 tells us that the semi truck stuck on the road because of frozen brakes is now off the road. A tow truck arrived to move the truck out of the way. The truck is not out of the area but it is not causing any delays that currently exist. Drivers who ran out of gas may be causing some delays as they await gas deliveries.

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4:00 a.m. Update: A Kentucky State Police dispatcher for Post 1 tells us that a tow truck has reached a semi truck that’s stuck along the interstate with frozen brakes. The dispatcher tells us the interstate traffic is moving slowly and until the truck is successfully towed it will still be a stop and go situation for those drivers. The dispatcher said a service truck tried to make repairs and to get the truck moving again but right now it’s not something the service workers could fix.

Any drivers stuck in traffic with the ability to exit off the interstate are encouraged to do so.

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12:40 a.m. Update: A Kentucky State Police dispatcher in Madisonville, KY tells us crews are still working to get traffic moving along Interstate 24 in Caldwell County. She says they moved two semis out of the way and got traffic moving, until they came upon a third semi. The driver says his brakes are frozen. They have a wrecker on the way, but could not give a time frame on when that will happen. The truck is stuck near mile marker 56 in the westbound lane.

She tells us they are not working anything on the interstate going east, so traffic should be moving going that way.

Crews are currently preparing to take food and water to those stuck on the interstate. She says they are currently gathering supplies and they will be on their way as soon as possible.

Original Story: Some drivers remain stuck on Interstate 24 at this time. Keith Todd with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet tells us I-24 in Caldwell County is partially blocked again due to semi’s having traction trouble from ice and a previous wreck near Exit 56.

At around 9:30, Todd has told us that both eastbound and westbound had starting slowly moving. Members of the Trigg County Highway Crew started spreading salt by hand around some of the stuck trucks. The Kentucky State Police and National Guard also helped assist in getting traffic moving again.